Dream Log Archive

Category: Corona

  • July 17, 2021

    (house with medical past / naked embarrassment / ghost pursuit)

    Sister and Sister’s Husband move into a house. It’s fully furnished from the previous family, including a medical area where their daughter used to live. She had a condition where her hands could never fully dry out, so her bed is surrounded by shallow tubs of water with toys to keep sensation in her fingers. There’s also hospital equipment like IVs. She could only see friends occasionally, on good days.

    At one point, there’s a gathering. The adults sit at the dining table, and the “kids” sit at the kitchen bar. I sit between a fair-haired girl and a dark-haired girl. I start talking to the fair-haired girl as if I recognize her, but when she turns, I realize I don’t know her. The dark-haired girl talks to me like we already know each other, but I can’t remember meeting her. It’s awkward until she mentions an online friend I had, and I realize I’ve never met her in person before.

    Later, I’m inexplicably naked in the house. I need to get to my room for clothes, but Sisters Husband is walking around. I avoid him by heading into a bathroom off the living room and close the door just as he comes into view, though it catches slightly on the rug.

    Sister’s Friends B and I arrive by bus. I see Sister, Sister’s Husband, and Sister’s Dog going out to greet them, so I run through the house to get dressed properly.

    At some point, I become the dark-haired girl, who lives near the house.

    A friend drags me to a church. We were supposed to perform a sealing ritual for a ghost, but this is something different and urgent, like we’re being hunted. Instead of sealing it, she unseals the ghost by swiping a bronze token so its name becomes visible. A hole opens in the altar, and she throws me down into it before escaping through a passage to the right.

    A man named Ilya chases in after me.

    I try to hide, but the ghost has also been released into the basement, and I keep running into her. She wears white rags and is emaciated, her bones visible through grey skin. Her long black hair is tangled and oily, and her face looks partially mummified.

    I eventually find my way up and run toward the sea. Ilya and the ghost are both chasing me. I manage to fly briefly over the water, but then I fall into a rift.

    The rift leads to a spirit world—an endless sandy desert. Above me, the rift opens and closes repeatedly, showing the ocean just out of reach. I try to fly back up but can’t. I walk along the desert, searching for another exit, and eventually reach a shoreline. I try stacking stones to climb out, but they won’t stay stacked.

    Just as I’m about to give up, the ghost appears behind me, and Ilya pulls me back through the rift onto the shore. Even though he was chasing me before, he doesn’t want the ghost to be free.

    As we escape over rooftops back toward the church, he asks what happened. I realize then that my friend intentionally unsealed the ghost.

    I show him the items I have to reseal her: a bronze oval pendant, a pair of her earrings, and a small silver token—one for each of us. He urgently tells me to store them somewhere that locks, because that’s how she’s tracking me. I’ve just been carrying them in a small folding box that closes but doesn’t lock.

    I try to find something secure, but the ghost catches up again and we have to keep moving. We decide to return to the church so Ilya can help reseal her.

    I worry about my friend, but Ilya reassures me that the ghost is following me because I have all the tokens, not her.

  • May 14, 2020

    (bus stop detour / portrait & pursuit / ciel’s standoff)

    I’m on a bus heading home, but I need to stop at a convenience store for a drink, so I get off a bit early near the center of town. The rest of my classmates say goodbye, but then get off at the next stop and walk through town. They wave when they see me, but I keep walking like I have somewhere to be.

    I pass the town information center and reach a bridge where parade preparations are happening. In the river below, a group of giant turtles spins in formation. On the bridge and along the shore, a Shinsengumi squad practices swordplay.

    I continue to a small museum for handicrafts and ceramics. Everything is written in English, even though the setting is clearly in Japan. I go into a workshop and end up being the last visitor of the day.

    Right before me is a Chinese or Taiwanese girl with short brown hair, Xue Tsun. She has a watercolor portrait done, then draws her own picture of herself and me, the next person in line. When it’s my turn, I only get the portrait. I like her drawing and ask for a copy, but I’m told I’ll have to get it directly from her.

    I run out to catch up with her and find her just before the bridge. She’s being harassed by a man. I step in and fight him off, and he turns out to be her boyfriend.

    I walk down a nearby street to a mansion that belongs to Ciel Phantomhive. He has been dealing with difficult negotiations with someone trying to take what’s his. He suspects they might try again, but still invites them in, confident he can win.

    As they arrive, he realizes something is wrong. He hears his own voice coming from the door and understands that they may be creating copies of him each time to replace him.

    He runs and locks himself in the bathroom, nervously turning his ring. The opponent has the advantage—they only need to destroy, while he has too many things to protect: his claim to the ring, his estate, possibly Lizzie (Elizabeth Midford).

    He knows he has to think quickly, because if he shows any weakness, it will be over almost immediately.

  • April 23, 2020

    (department store loop / dessert outing / purchase hesitation)

    I’m at a 49-store department store, repeatedly passing around the bus stop out front.

    One of the floors is dedicated to restaurants, mostly very fancy places, all offering lunch and dessert sets.

    After a lecture one day, I go there with College Roommate S and we try cakes at one of the Italian places.

    At night, I return with Ex-boyfriend T.

    On the first floor, there’s a general store selling soft, fuzzy loft shawls. He tries on a blue one and hints that I should buy it for him for Christmas. I agree, but I don’t want to buy it in front of him.

    I go upstairs to look around the restaurant floor again, then come back down and usher him outside so I can go to the register alone.

    I buy a few other things as well, but when I’m checking out and trying to get my rewards cards ready, I realize I never put the shawl on the counter. I have to ask them to redo the receipt.

  • April 22, 2020

    (bus rides / support group / sex event escape)

    I’m being transported along with others on a set of buses—several yellow school buses and one small nine-seat shuttle. I’m on the shuttle, which is completely full, while the other buses are less crowded.

    On the way there, I sit near the front, but on the return trip I sit in the back. At one point on the return, I’m the only passenger left, and I chat with the driver as we pass Neighbor J’s house.

    I’m in Hometown Center, working at a company on the third floor of my high school’s math building. The job feels boring, maybe something like accounting, and my desk space is small.

    HS Friend A works at a McDonald’s nearby. I stop by with a friend during lunch and try to get her to come with us, but she says she can’t because her boss would fire her if he found out. We still talk briefly outside.

    I go to a small studio for a group conversation. We sit in a circle of chairs and talk—it feels like a support group setting, but not centered on any specific issue.

    A boy shares a memory from childhood where he tried to look openly at gay things, but his mother redirected him, telling him that “normal” people looked at cute fuzzy animal characters when they liked things like that. He grows up to become a major voice in furry forums, with his mother continuing to help him hide things from his father.

    Later, there’s a nighttime event on the floor of my high school science building. People are bringing in pairs for some kind of tribal-like hate-sex. The first pair is two drag queens, who are also sex workers. I don’t stay till the end, leaving a bit early to head back to work.

    When I go back toward work, the bosses are in a meeting and have taken over the office space, forcing everyone else into the hallway. I decide to leave instead.

    Downstairs, I find Language School Classmate A, who is a popular child actress. She asks where we are, and I realize she is supposed to be next in the hate-sex show but hasn’t been told about the event.

    I decide to protect her and take her home. We manage to get out of the high school building before we start being chased. I pick her up to run faster, but my limbs feel slow and uncoordinated. I end up pushing myself forward using both my arms and legs, almost crawling, trying to get her to safety.

  • April 21, 2020

    (classroom / investigation / rescue on snow islands)

    I’m in a middle school classroom set up like my high school math class. The windows face northeast, with the door opposite on the southwest side of the room. The blackboard stretches across the north side of the room, with the teacher’s desk in the corner by the wall connecting to the door.

    I sit in the middle-back of the room, but close enough to get light from the windows hitting my desk. It’s bright and spacious. We’re turning in an assignment and then getting ready to watch a movie.

    I see a coworker friend of mine—with brown hair in a ponytail—get kidnapped. I follow them back to the hideout but don’t want the kidnapper to know I’ve found it, so I circle around town for a while.

    The city is laid out in a circle around a large rotary, with a downtown area on one side, the hideout branching off on the other, and a business district in between.

    I meet up with coworkers for lunch and pretend I’ve been with them the whole time, since the kidnapper is nearby and I need to keep a low profile. While I’m there, two more coworkers are taken, along with three other people I know.

    I gather a group to rescue them.

    We enter through a place that looks like the entrance to a concert hall or zoo, with gates set up for long lines of people. Inside, it opens into a snowy landscape.

    We’re on a snow-covered island, with a large hill on one side and the ocean on the other. There are two caves on either side.

    We find people frozen in the hill, already too late to save. I jump up and look over the tops of the caves and see the kidnapped people gathered above.

    I tell them they’ll freeze from the wind since no one is dressed for the cold and urge them to come down into the caves. One by one, they make their way over and drop down. We pile up snow at the cave entrances to block the wind.

    We realize this is part of an archipelago—there are three other islands: another snowy mountain, a town, and one where the kidnapper is based.

    Later, we hold a large event with the rescued people. Many of them are genderfluid. There’s a stage where they dance and rave to music, the atmosphere energetic and celebratory. There’s also a somewhat sexual atmosphere to the party.

  • April 20, 2020

    (return visit / familiar house / masked pursuit)

    I return from Los Angeles to the home of a friend I met there. I unlock the door with a key, but once it’s unlocked, the key can’t be removed from the door.

    Inside, the kitchen feels similar to my grandpa’s, while the living room is large and filled with clothes—my friend is a fashion designer.

    Sister and Sister’s Husband come to visit.

    At some point, I’m running from a man in a mask.

    I end up at an abandoned house set between rice paddies, with a tea table outside. I go in with my friend to look around, but we run into the masked man again.

    He runs out and up a slope. I launch myself into the air and chase after him, flying up to try and catch him.

  • April 15, 2020

    (hotel inspection / unsettling discovery / casual conclusion)

    I’m in a fancy hotel with a group. My boss mentions that we’ve received a request for my dad to give a lecture. The location is supposed to be at a hospital room, next to a golf course. Everything—the room and arrangements—would be covered as reimbursements, and I’m sent to check out the room prepared for him to stay in.

    The room doesn’t match the pictures. It looks grimy. The closet, bed, and drawers still have a few things left in them, like it hasn’t been properly cleared out.

    I check the bathroom and realize the blueprint is wrong. Instead of a standard setup, there’s a large shared shower room with multiple shower heads, some still running. The bathtub, which was supposed to be a single unit, is actually an enormous one—about eighteen feet long.

    It becomes clear to me that the space isn’t meant for normal use, but something more private and unusual. I feel unsettled, imagining weird sex parties.

    As we head outside to a meeting, I ask my boss about it discreetly. He implies that the person who made the request used to court him, and that his interests have shifted over time towards lingerie. I briefly consider asking him for store recommendations related to that, but we arrive at the meeting building and drop the subject.

    We’re a bit early, so we’re told to get drinks at a juice shop inside. We end up getting frozen lemonades and other fruity drinks.

  • April 14, 2020

    (beach search / dog facility / different childhood)

    I’m walking along a beach with my family, looking for something, though I don’t know exactly where it is. We pass a taxi area and continue to another stretch of beach, but that’s not right either.

    Eventually, we come to a white glass building and go inside. It looks like a chemistry lab at first, but there are dogs everywhere—it’s more like a dog hotel or grooming center. There’s only one woman taking care of them.

    Near the entrance are four small dogs: a fluffy white one wearing a headscarf, a blonde dachshund, a jumpy dog, and what seems to be the woman’s own dog, maybe a chihuahua with partially dreaded fur.

    Behind a high table with stools where we sit, there are more dogs, including a golden-brown retriever that loves attention.I try to take pictures with all of them. They’re friendly, though some are shy.

    Later, I’m in a restaurant talking about different ways my life might have gone if I’d been born into different circumstances.

    Then I wake up as a small child.

    Murasaki comes in with her daughter. I’m supposed to know Russian, but I only have my current memories. I make an excuse to go practice and escape into the garden, then head out into the street.

    Some kids make fun of my hair color. An older white man approaches and gives me a bad feeling. I try to leave and tell him we don’t look alike. He pulls my hair angrily, but I manage to slip away and run into another house.

    Inside, it feels like a community gathering space. Another girl finds me and pulls me into a crawl space so we can move around without being seen.

    We end up at an outdoor Korean cultural museum. There’s a theater building, exhibit spaces, and alley-like streets lined with restaurants. We look for somewhere to eat but don’t settle on anything there.

    Instead, we leave and go to a building in front of the museum and decide to have Indian food. We pay up front and each order a dish. I get a kind of dumpling set—seven pieces in a batch.

  • April 13, 2020

    (cafe search / imagined intimacy / hotel meetup)

    I’m living in Tokyo, or somewhere like it, and heading into the city to meet friends to play a game at a tea shop. Last time, we had to search around because the first few places wouldn’t let us stay for a long time.

    I consider going back to the first place, but it wasn’t ideal, so I keep looking. I pass a high-end grocery store and go inside. They have a lot of ice cream cookie sandwiches, but I realize I can’t buy them if I’m going to leave them sitting in a café for hours. I check the store hours—it closes at 23:30—so I think I could come back later before heading home.

    I check another café, but they don’t allow eating inside. I start thinking the first place might be the best option after all.

    Then I pass another place—bright and sunny, with a bar along one wall and full window panes at the back with tables. It looks promising, so I decide to ask if they’ll let us stay and play games there.

    Later, I’m in a hotel for some kind of conference or convention. I’m in bed, about to sleep, when I imagine a scene that feels very real, like it’s happening right next to me. There are two people, one slimmer and one larger, with the larger one having a metal left arm.

    I shift perspective and become the slimmer person. There’s a sense of teasing and anticipation, and I follow along, unsure but responsive, waiting for direction and reacting to what the other person does.

    Then I get distracted by something outside the window. The window opens into the middle of the hotel, where there’s a large internal walkway system and you can see the banisters of all the floors.

    I think I see HS Friend M on a lower floor, just below my balcony. I go to check and confirm it’s her. She’s with other HS friends (group of four), gathering in a room below.

    I call down with cupped hands to ask the room number—5360, on the fifth floor. I rush to grab my things—my phone (which I think isn’t charged, but it is), my glasses, my room key, and slippers, though I can only find one.

    I feel like I have something important the next day, but I can’t resist going to see them, even if it means staying up all night.

  • March 24, 2020

    (geisha training / missed goodbye / transformed return)

    I’m in a Japanese dining establishment involving geisha, where I’m in training alongside another girl who is sullen.

    I have a friend or mentor there who is kind to me. At one point, she serves a guest who is thought to be Jun Matsumoto from Arashi. After he leaves and is given an upscale gift package, it’s revealed that he was actually just a look-alike.

    The tables are fairly full, but I don’t have any customers yet.

    Suddenly, my mentor’s going-away celebration begins. I didn’t realize she was leaving. I try to join in to say goodbye, but I can’t get close to her through the crowd.

    Later, she returns—but now as a man, and apparently very wealthy. He begins buying various geisha from the establishment.

    I stand in the back, hoping he remembers me.